Sudafed can be used to make meth, which is bad. There is talk of replacing the pseudoepinephrine ingredient, which is necessary for meth, with phenylephrine. My understanding is that it performs just as well as pseudoepinephrine, and cannot be used to maufacture meth.
Is this true? Are there other problems with phenylephrine?
Sorry, don’t know the answer to your question, but it’s pseudoephedrine. There is such a thing as pseudoepinephrine but pseudoephedrine is what’s in Sudafed and is what’s used for meth.
I don’t know if it can be used to make meth, but replacement of pseudoephedrine has gone considerably beyond “talk” here in California. I was in Target this weekend and there wasn’t a single product of that type that contained anything other than phenylephrine. I don’t know how similar they are. I guess I’ll find out when I have my next sinus headache.
Here in NY, it’s been replaced in NyQuil. The basic/store brand of NyQuil hasn’t been altered though.
Phenylephrine is in the brand Sudafed PE™. It seems to be too new to find anything other that sales sites for it. :dubious:
The active ingredient in Sudafed™ is Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride.
I did find this news article about it.
picunurse, that’s what they were selling at Target last Saturday. There was no regular Sudafed on the shelves and even the “take this card to the Pharmacy” cards were for Sudafed PE.
I had a pit thread about restrictions of Sudafed awhile back.
IIRC, QtM suggested that phenylephrine was not as effective…hopefully he’ll pop in to verify that or fix my ailing memory.
Phenylephrine does not work NEARLY as well as pseudoepinephrine for me, (last time I tried it, my sinuses didn’t even drain halfway, my ears were still plugged and I couldn’t really hear) and I have to take the stuff every day to keep my sinuses drained, as a preventative measure against sinus/ear infections.
A quick WiKi
and from a cite linked from wikipedia
Phenylephrine doesn’t work worth beans for me; if they all switch to it I think am doomed to not breathing for however long my stuffiness persists. They’re starting a large study now, but no results: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/gui/show/NCT00276016;jsessionid=82F17235EDAC08AD8ADB486577035B3E?order=8
For years, I was taking Sudafed every 4 hours, like clockwork. I can still get it, but I’d have to wait in line for 15 minutes, show ID, and sign for it. Then the druggist looks at me like I’m a junkie. I switched to the new “feenafed.”
Then, on the advice of a coupla Dopers, I bought a Neti Pot. I’ve been using it for about 3 weeks, and I can breathe again, like never before. Once in the morning, and sometimes again later in the evening, and I can go for days without any little red pills at all.
It looks sorta like the head of a golf driver with a little tapered spout off one end. I fill it with about 6 oz. of warm water, mix in non-iodized salt from a teensy 125 cc. measure, and pour it through my nose. I tilt my head over to one side so one nostril is directly above the other, then I put the spout in the upper nostril. The water runs in one side and out the open nostril. After blowing my nose, (a lot of stuff comes out) I fill it up again and do the other side.
It’s not nearly as icky as it sounds, and it sure beats having your head stopped up all day. I’m so clear and open now, I can exercise while breathing only through my nose. In all my 56 years, I could never do that.
So we are suffering because some people make meth?
Goddamn.
in my local Walmart, there are “take to pharmacy” cards, but only for name brands. If you want to buy the generic equivalent (with pseudoephedrine!), you can take the box right off the shelf. :dubious: :smack:
Anecdotal evidence: the Sudafed PE and all the phenylephrine don’t work for beans for me.
You could still buy it, you’d just have a harder time finding it in a store. Besides there are other drugs aside from ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and phenylephrine for decongestion.
:smack: CookingWithGas, thanks. That explains why my google-fu was even worse than usual.How many people have heard me say pseudoepinephrine?!
So, to summarize, phenylephrine doesn’t always work as well for some people and while meth production would go down, congestion and general ire would rise. Thank you.
According to a recent (2/14/06) episode of Frontline, meth production in the U.S. already is down thanks to the current limitations and restrictions.
Most of it now comes from Mexico. Pharmacies there have limits too, but none of them seem to actually adhere to them.
Phenylephrine makes me feel like absolute crap, as I found out not long ago; it gave me all kinds of heart palpitations and jacked up my blood pressure by 30 points. I went back to the pharmacy as suggested and went through the meth-head prevention routine to get the old formula Sudafed knockoff, which worked just fine.
The pharmacist told me my reaction to the new formulation wa’n’t uncommon; apparently it has a tendency to jack up pulse and blood pressure for some people much more than pseudoephedrine does. I sure hope they don’t reformulate everything, or I will need to go to the doctor for prescription decongestants every time my sinuses act up, which would be a PITA and very expensive with our new prescription plan.
I’m also in California, and I’ve seen Sudafed with pseudoephedrine available behind the customer service counter at Safeway, I think no earlier than last month, so I’m pretty sure it’s still available here, you just have to look harder for it.